Friendship in Hiding Places
by Cissa The Bookworm
Summary: Based on the prompt from somewhere (I think it's Tumblr, but don't hold me to that): Bucky and Clint develop a friendship because they keep bumping into each other while hiding in strategic locations rather than socialize with the others.


_Bucky and Clint develop a friendship because they keep bumping into each other while hiding in strategic locations rather than socialize with the others._

The first time it happens, both men are completely surprised. "How the fuck did you find this spot?" Bucky demands of Clint, who starts to warily back away from the angry ex-Soviet assassin.

"Um, this is my usual hiding spot?" Clint tries.

Bucky growls and Clint turns tail and runs, figuring he'd find a new hiding spot since it wasn't worth fighting the scary assassin over.

When the second and third times happened, neither men are particularly happy, but neither run each other out of the hiding spot. "How does this keep happening?" Clint whines the third time it happens, "You keep finding all the good spots."

"I'm sharing aren't I?" Bucky asks, a smirk starting to form on his lips.

Clint huffs, "But this is where I come to get away from people."

"Well suck it up buttercup, you're sharing your spots with me."

"But-"

"Look pal, I ain't leavin', so you can either stay or leave, makes no difference to me." Bucky gives Clint a calculating look. "Besides I was here first."

"Well I lived in the tower first." Clint childishly responds, causing Bucky to snort. "Whatever." Clint mulishly responds as he settles down with his StarkPad and does his best to ignore Bucky as he flips through a thick novel. "What are you reading?" Clint eventually asks.

Bucky gives Clint another considering look before slowly responding, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bruce recommended it to me."

"What a standup guy." Clint mutters, only partly sarcastic.

Bucky glares at Clint, "If all you're going to do is chatter, you can leave."

"I was still in this tower first."

"Yeah, well, Steve likes me better." Bucky counters.

"How does that even fit with the argument?"

"Jarvis also likes me better."

"He does not." Clint says defensively, "Jarvis loves me!"

Bucky snorts and pushes Clint's shoulder, "Get out of here, idiot."

Clint sniffs, "Fine. But don't think this is over, Barnes." Bucky rolls his eyes as Clint dramatically climbs out of their perch in the vents.

The two of them keep meeting in random hiding places, Bucky with glaring tolerance and Clint bemoaning the fact that all his perches were getting taken over by a man with a tin can for an arm. "Hey, watch what you say about the arm!" Bucky growls when Clint makes that particular comment.

Clint shrugs, unaffected, "I call 'em like I see 'em."

"Do you have a death wish?" Bucky's glower reaches dangerous levels.

"Not particularly, but Nat says I don't have a brain to mouth filter."

"I'd say you don't have a goddamn brain in that head of yours."

"Hurtful." Clint makes a mockingly hurt face, hand on his breast. "Do you talk to all your friends like this?"

"You're not my friend." Bucky grits out.

"Oh," Clint raises his eyebrow, "then you share your hiding spots with people you don't like?"

"Fuck you." Bucky snarls before pulling himself up onto the main part of the roof and storming off back inside.

Clint sighs, "I need to work on my Bucky-skills. Maybe I'll ask Cap."

Eventually though the two started to get along, with grudging reluctance. It all started when Bucky brought Twizzlers to the hiding spot for a snack and shared them with Clint. "Ooooh, Twizzlers!" Clint cried happily as he crawled into the attic space above the gym. "Can I have some?"

"Sure." Bucky says, mind partly absent as he flips through the book about mechanical engineering. "Have 'em all, they're disgusting."

"Ah yiiiiis!" Clint looks lovingly at the Twizzlers as he snatches the bag up and cradles them to his chest, "Bucky-boy, you are now my new best friend."

That got Bucky's attention, "What did you just say?"

"That you're my new best friend?" Clint makes his statement sound very much like a question.

Bucky looked confused, "Why?"

"Because you brought me Twizzlers and didn't kick me out of the hiding spot?" Clint hopefully states.

"Okay then." Bucky shrugs, going back to his book, "Will you stay quiet if I keep bringing Twizzlers?"

"Probably." Clint nods, "They _are_ gifts from above after all."

Bucky lets out a small laugh, "Whatever pal, you can keep 'em. They're nasty as fuck."

Clint dramatically gasps, "Say it isn't so! You can't possibly hate them! It's just not natural."

"You're not natural." Bucky replies, "Now shut the hell up, I want to finish this before Steve drags me back into the general population." Clint salutes Bucky before shoving a Twizzler in his mouth and shutting up until Steve makes Jarvis call for Bucky.

After that their strange friendship went along swimmingly. Bucky would bring Clint Twizzlers and Clint would stay quiet for the duration of the time that he shared the hiding space with Bucky. After they shared their typical expletive-riddled greeting, that is.

"GODDAMN IT!" Clint screeches as Bucky wiggles his way into what Clint thought was a foolproof hiding spot that only Jarvis would know about. He had actually wanted to be totally alone today. Not the quasi alone that was typical of being in the same space as Bucky.

Bucky smirks at Clint as he squeezes into the almost too small space, "I brought your favorite: the rainbow colored ones." He smiles as he holds up the bag of Twizzlers.

"You're forgiven for now Barnes." Clint huffs as he accepts the bribe. "How did you even find this spot? I thought this one would be Barnes-proof."

Bucky continues to smugly smirk at Clint, tapping his forehead, "I'm just that good."

"It was Jarvis wasn't it?"

Bucky simply taps his forehead once more before pulling out a history book and settling in the space to read. Clint huffs once more before he curls up into a protective ball, head on Bucky's thigh and angrily tears the Twizzlers up before shoving them, equally as angrily, into his mouth. "Goddamn you and your goddamn Twizzlers." Clint curses, eliciting a chuckle out of Bucky.

"Language." Bucky mocks.

"Oh fuck you, Barnes."

Bucky continues to laugh, "Sorry, that job belongs to Steve."

"I really didn't need to know that."

"Well, it's really me doing the fucking and Steve getting the enjoyment of being a wet noodle…" Bucky teases.

"Gross." Clint whines, "I really don't need to know all of this. I don't need to know what you grandpas do in your spare time."

Bucky ignores Clint, smirk firmly in place, flipping a page in his book. Clint glares at the other man while shoving another Twizzler into his mouth. "Goddamn super soldiers."

After a while of relative silence, the only thing breaking up the quiet being the turning of pages, Clint's chomping, and their breathing, Bucky finally asks, "Why are you not in one of our normal spots?" Clint shrugs, head not leaving Bucky's thigh. "That's not an answer." Bucky points out.

Clint sighs before answering, "Just didn't want to be around anyone."

"I'm not anyone."

"Didn't want to be around anything living."

"Well I have a metal arm." Bucky says unhelpfully. "C'mon, pal, what's wrong?"

"It's the anniversary of Phil's death." Clint says mournfully.

"Were you two together?"

"No, just really good friends. He's the one who brought me into SHIELD and the one who trusted me when it came to bringing Nat in instead of putting her down."

Bucky nods and pats Clint's head. "'M sorry."

"S'not your fault, it's Loki's." Clint mutters, snuggling closer to Bucky.

"I'm still sorry. Losing someone, I know that hurts." Clint sighs once more as Bucky continues to pet Clint's head. "But you've got Nat and Bruce and Tony and Steve and occasionally Thor. And….you've got me."

That causes Clint to look up. "What?"

"I've finally come to the conclusion that I like you. You can be a big pain in the ass, but you remind me enough of Steve when he was just a half pint for me to truly hate you. I may growl and bemoan your existence, but I guess that I'm fond of you, pal."

Clint bats his eyes at Bucky, "I knew you'd eventually learn to love me."

"Love is much too strong of a word. Fond tolerance is much better."

Clint laughs, "Yeah, whatever you say. You know you love me, deep down in that cold Soviet heart."

Bucky rolls his eyes, "I'm an American, you do know that right?"

"Are you sure about that?" Clint pokes fun at his friend, "Because sometimes I wonder if you're not more Russian than you are American. I mean, vodka for breakfast? Only a Russian would do that."

"I'll show you Russian!" Bucky threatens, playfully moving as if to attack Clint. Clint scrambles away from the ex-Soviet and rushes out of their shared space.

"You'll never catch me, Barnes!" Clint laughingly yells back at his friend.

Bucky smiles as he responds, "I wouldn't bet on that, Barton!"

A few minutes later, the rest of the Avengers are made aware of Bucky and Clint's antics when part of Tony's lab goes up in smoke and the gym looks wrecked. Tony screeches his head off at the two, but Natasha and Steve stop him from doing anything to the troublemakers, simply happy that their crazy friends weren't depressed or mopey, but instead back to their usual selves: ridiculous and slightly destructive.


End file.
